Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Donald Trump and the Trumpism That Will Survive Him

He's been slowly losing it since he lost the debate, and a tape revealed him to be vulgar, foul-mouthed misogynist who boasts about using his tiny fingers to sexually assault women.He's been staying up too late tweeting crazy things, the strain of the long campaign is getting to him.And now Donald Trump has finally gone over the deep end.And declared war on his own party.

Or broken his shackles.Donald Trump is launching a kamikaze mission -- fracturing his own party four weeks before Election Day.
The GOP nominee is lashing out in a stream of tweets boiling with rage and resentment, slamming House Speaker Paul Ryan for effectively cutting him loose and accusing the party leadership of dooming his campaign. It's a meltdown unprecedented by a presidential nominee this late in the year.And is now even threatening the Republican's hold on Congress.

Donald J. Trump’s intensifying battle with his own party is tearing open the nation’s political map, pulling Republicans across the country into a self-destructive feud that could imperil dozens of lawmakers in Congress and potentially throw conservative-leaning states into Hillary Clinton’s column.Which is of course very good news for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.But what is now also blindingly obvious, is that this nightmare won't end when that dangerous demagogue is finally defeated.For even though Trump now claims that he didn't stalk Clinton during the debate like a character out of some horror movie....

She invaded HIS space, he says.And even though after ending the debate by praising Clinton's strength and perseverance, he's now running this new attack ad claiming she doesn't have the "stamina" to be President.

Which can only make any decent person wonder how low he might go.What is disturbing is how many Americans still believe in him...

For he is still attracting big crowds, and for a lot of his supporters he is still the man sent to save them. Their very own Messiah.So I can only imagine how disappointed they are going to be when he is finally crushed. Even if as Roger Cohen writes, Trumpism will survive him.If the United States escapes a disaster Nov. 8, it will have done so narrowly. Donald Trump, a dictator-in-waiting with a brat’s temper and a prig’s scowl, has won the support of tens of millions of Americans. It’s fortunate that we are less than a month from the election because we are running out of words to describe him: this phony, this liar, this blowhard, this cheat, this bully, this misogynist, this demagogue, this predator, this bigot, this bore, this egomaniac, this racist, this sexist, this sociopath. I will not go on. It’s pointless. Everyone knows, not least his supporters.For Trumpism is just a symptom of a failing economic system and it will not disappear until that system is overhauled. There is something rotten in the state of the West. It is not one single thing; it is a feeling of downward drift in societies unjustly skewed.People know this. They feel the tectonic plates shifting, not only of America’s place in the world after two wars without victory, but also of production, employment, their livelihoods. Precariousness is the new normal. Everything is visible, including the immense wealth of the rich. Tossed here and there by dimly understood global forces people revert to nativism, nationalism and ethnocentrism — in a word, to Trumpism.And until we finally understand what our worship of technology is doing to us, and where it could lead us...

The creative economy is a catchy phrase but in many cases, for those without the education or connections to benefit, what is created is misery. Technology is wonderful when it’s useful but less so when it puts an end to your usefulness. Its whirlwind has left humanity with their heads bowed gazing at desolate little screens.The stooped yearn then to look up and perceive a man who promises deliverance. Trump has been that man.The good news is that the same conditions that have created Trumpism can be harnessed by progressives, like Bernie Sanders has done...

For only his kind of revolution can offer real change, and the hope of a better future.And that revolution is continuing.But in the meantime with less than four weeks to go, we are left with a Trump unshackled.Millions of his increasingly angry and bitter supporters.And one can only wonder how low that monstrous demagogue will take this nightmare campaign before he is finally done...

There are a number of women who spoke to the NY Times to say it's not all bullshit bragging. Then there's Katie Johnson who's suing Trump for allegedly raping her when she was 13. You've got to go to the UK tabloids for that story, the American press won't touch it even though it's based on documents filed in court.

I fear the lunatic will lose badly, say it was rigged and then compel his twisted supporters into anarchy. Then I hope they throw him in jail for inciting violence/terrorism and cage his subhuman ilk who cannot function in a law abiding society.JD

hi JD...in my opinion he is stirring all of this up, so he can claim he would have won if the Republicans hadn't stabbed him in the back. But you're right, by claiming the whole process was rigged he is whipping his ignorant base into a frenzy, and goodness knows aha they might do. All I hope is that if they commit some violent act, Trump will be charged for inciting it, and jailed like a terrorist....

Hypocracy Nilism machine thats Trump. The phony outrage over pussy is priceless.It proves that in a contest between facts and spin, there is no contest. Trump is not only taking down the GOP, but the Clinton Crime machine and the mainstream media helpers at the same time. Its glorious.

hi Steve...one can hardly claim that it's a contest between facts and spin. When Trump lies like a thief. Sexual assault is not something that can be lightly dismissed. Wikileaks is a Russian propaganda outlet. I still believe in Bernie's revolution. And a vote for Trump is a vote for dictatorship....

hi political junkie...I don't doubt that we are seeing the end of the American Empire. But an empire doesn't end with great leaders in power. So Im remain optimistic that out of the rubble will emerge a better America, and eventually a better world...

hi anon...yes, if they can find someone who can live on twigs and insects, that might delay the inevitable. But the Republicans created the conditions for their own demise, and now they are going to pay the very painful price...

Trump keeps talking about "crooked" Hillary, but really he just never backs it up with facts. I don't recall reading about any criminal convictions against Hillary Clinton.

There are many Americans who simply are going to have a hard time accepting Clinton could be the "commander in chief". In other countries the President or P.M. doesn't lead the armed forces, so its perhaps easier for the country to accept a woman as the head of state. Many countries have an easier time of accepting a woman as head of state because their countries are or have been monarchies which had Queens as head of state. to make the transition to a female P.M. isn't so difficult.

Trump is a bit of a head case and so are some of his supporters. For all the progress America has made in some ways they are still rather back ward. American has had an under class for as long as I've been alive, but in the past that was mainly African-Americans. For the past 30 years this under class has also begun encompassing whites and they just don't understand how that happened, nor are they interested in knowing. They still haven't figured out they are unemployed or under employed because their jobs were shipped to Asia by the very people they elected to office. Their politics is controlled by money to greater extent than any other G-7 country. For a developed nation they have really no social medical system for the average citizen and their public school system is a mess. They privitized prisons and sent their mentally ill there along with a million African-Americans. Gee what could go wrong in a country like that, when some billionaire comes along and promises to change every thing. i.e. make you think you're going to get the jobs of the 1970s back.

Lets hope Clinton is elected. If she has a majority in the Senate and House she might even get the medical system she wanted when Bill Clinton was President.